Heroes of Spherus Magna
by Omicron the IceQueen
Summary: With distress signals coming from a odd planet (one in the back water of the known galaxy), mechs are sent to investigate, and of coarse help. Only to be shot down by unknown forces, they must now work together with the natives, these Bionicle, to not only find out who baited them, but how to get back off the planet safely... and what's that in the shadow there?
1. Not so soft landing

Co-Authored by Dragon Claw92 [Author ID#: 1428261] and Omicron the IceQueen

**Queen's notes**: Maybe a bit of a rough start this chapter, but DC and I were experimenting with this cross over concept. And getting used to each other in writing! Hope you had as much fun reading about the coming adventures as we did writing.

I also wanted to give a big thank you to Dragon Claw for doing this with me, as the distraction to focus on this while I was having some big family issues. Even for bits at a time helped out more than you know sweetie to escape reality. And for putting up with me when I passed out at night mid post~

**Dragon's notes**: Like Omicron said, it was a bit of a rough start, but still a lot of fun. I can only hope that you enjoy it as much as we have, and I can guarantee that this is only the beginning of a grand adventure. Thanks for reading, and thanks to Omicron for the great idea to start this story off.

**Heroes of Spherus Magna**

Not so soft landing

"Alright Heroes, we're entering the atmosphere now."

Alpha Team's leader sounded grim and determined, as was his usual, as he said this, and whilst the others on board got prepared, the white colored veteran focused on the target planet ahead. So far, procedure was going according to plan, and atmosphere entry was going smoothly...

Right up until the vehicle gave a violent shudder, and a loud groan. A panicky sounding Surge spoke from somewhere in the back. "W-was that supposed to happen?!"

"Hang on to something." Was Stormer's response, his optics seeming to narrow as his grip on the steering column tightened.

What happened next was hard to explain. At one point, things seemed to be fine again, but in a matter of seconds, Stormer found himself -and the whole cockpit- breaking off from the rest of the ship and veering far off course from where he was supposed to go. Moments later, everything seemed to black out...

He wasn't sure how long it took for his systems to get back online, but once they did, he groaned quietly and extricated himself from the wreckage, pulling himself free and forcing himself out of the driver's seat. Once he got out of the warped metal that had once been the cockpit, however, Stormer found himself utterly lost. His blue optics scanned around in confusion and uncertainty, and judging by what he was seeing, his team wasn't anywhere near where he ended up. One thing was certain though; his armor was now painted in mud.

Something squeaked off to the side of Stormer, and he turned to his right to see there was a quick motion. Like someone ducking down out of sight behind one of the many clusters of reeds and other smaller trees.

Most of the trees around (that were still standing after the crash), seemed odd. All giving the impression of only being saplings. Very few growing up higher than the mech's own seven foot height. There was a hint of a look that things other than weeds and reeds were planted in the nearly swamp like landscape… no not a swap, the water that was visible over the edge of the island where he crashed was oddly clear, and looked drinkable for cooling systems.

But there was to his right the possibility of someone there. Either A) one of the reasons for the distress call that brought the heroes, or B) a native (that could also be related to option A), or C) a wild beastie that may recover from the shock of being figuratively run over, than become grumpy at him.

Very little ever escaped Stormer's attention, and such details as squeaking and movement were things he seldom left uninvestigated. Instinctively, his hand went for his weapon, though considering the nasty crash, he soon discovered that, not only was he without a team, he was also without a working weapon. Frowning at this discovery, he took a moment to get himself up onto the wreckage, deciding that he'd rather have the higher ground so he could at least see better if he needed it. "Who's there?" He asked loudly, his voice firm even though his weapon, and armor, were going to need a bit of repair.

The squeak was back, the person- it had the shape of a mecha and metallic blue armor was just visible admits the reeds. Whoever or whatever it was, was staying put, the mech likely having to personally go see.

Bold as brass despite being white as snow... well, formerly white as snow, Stormer took this as his cue to investigate, and got down off the wreckage, cautiously moving towards where he'd caught a glimpse of the blue armor. "Hello? Who's out there?" Still, his voice sounded firm and authoritative, though as time went past Stormer was starting to wonder if he really had much grounds to use such a voice. He didn't exactly have much to defend himself with other than what training he'd gotten in unarmed combat.

Then suddenly, all at once the mech almost stepped on who he was looking for.

Giving a frightened yip and half scream that sounded somehow a bit reptilian, the being scrabbled out from almost under Stormer's feet, running into a thicker cluster or reeds and partly up it. Shivering and frightened, wide (glowing!) tri-colored eyes looked up at the mech. At first glance the blue colored being was another mecha, but as he watched in the following seconds, Stormer could see the native...breathing.

Needless to say, the veteran Hero jumped backwards, his blue optics seeming to widen in surprise at this sudden occurrence. Caught off guard, he ended up tripping over his own feet and tumbling over onto his rear end, though he quickly got up and took another step or two back. For the first moment or two, he just stared at the unusual being, not sure quite how to approach the situation.

Without really having a full grasp of what he was saying at the time, he blithered something he normally wouldn't have ever said. "...what are you?"

Catching his blunder, he shook his head and quickly corrected himself. "Who are you?" He knew it was a bit late to take words back, but at least he could try to seem civilized. He was the leader of Alpha Team, after all; he had to seem more courteous than what his first question had implied.

Wide eyes (the backdrop a soft red, the inner ring orange and the center a golden shade) just stared back at the mech, the owner had a slim build that gave a distinct female look. There was darkly tanned hide under the thin seeming over armor, interrogated perfectly in a balance of flesh and mechanical. A strange mask like thing was clinging strapless to her face...or was apart of the face...

All and all, this being radiated helplessness and fear more than anything else. Even huddled against the reeds like she was, the native wouldn't come up to the mech's chest.

The Hero was presently at a loss of what to do now. He couldn't recall seeing anything quite like this creature before, and the more he thought about it, the more confused he got. "...can you speak?" He inquired, trying to sound a little friendlier than his usual tone did. "Or even understand what I'm saying?" Now he was starting to consider trying to find out if anything in the cockpit had survived the crash, namely something that could help him with the situation he presently found himself in.

He could only hope that Surge had survived, and hadn't made a complete fool of himself by now.

"Cam'i tasa...?" A female voice shyly asked from the native, lowering the protective hands and staring up at the standing mech. "Kito ma Agoi?"

Stormer's expression showed mild bewilderment. "...I beg your pardon?" He responded, clearly not understanding quite what was being expressed. "I didn't quite catch what you said."

The truth was he fully did catch it, but he had no idea what she meant. Now was one of those times where he wished Breez had been there to help him out; she was the master linguist of his team, not him.

"Kito...kita mu Agoi?" The girl tried again, still clearly intimidated by the towering mech.

By this point, Stormer was just too confused to even know what to do. "Ehm... one moment." He paused before holding a finger up to try and imply that he needed a second, and then turned, heading back to the wreckage of the cockpit and managing to squeeze himself back inside. Once in there, he rooted around a bit, frowning as he found various devices that had been destroyed, which would've been good to have right around now.

Thankfully though, luck was somewhat on his side, because he found a translation device. It wasn't really in the best shape, but at least it was functioning with borderline decency. Vaguely satisfied, Stormer clambered back out of the wreck and looked around, just in case the female had moved, or (the thought that was niggling at the back of his mind) called in something to get rid of him in a less-than-polite way.

She hadn't, the native of this world evidently had a high dose of curiosity once semi-sure that the Hero wasn't going to eat her. She had followed Stormer almost to the crashed ship, giving it a long look. Not scared of it, but though she had no idea where it came form, something in the tri-colored eyes said she wasn't clueless to flying machines. Standing now as well, if shuffling her feet, the blue girl wasn't more than five feet, and slim in build. She had a fair sized chest, but given the rest of her almost perfect streamlined make up and armor... and all the water around.

This would be one impressive swimmer to say the least.

The Hero blinked on seeing her that close by, but managed a vague smile of sorts as he indicated the device in his hand. He moved a bit closer to her again now, taking in her features and making a mental note of her build type, just in case such information would be needed later.

"This ought to help." He remarked, more to himself than to the unusual female. Turning his optics to the device, he fussed with it a bit before any lights actually flickered on, and he frowned mildly when he took full notice of the cracks on the outer casing. "...well that isn't good." Shaking his head, he then looked curiously at the girl before him, hoping that she'd say something else, and hoping that the translator would have enough information in it to know at least what language she spoke.

"…cerou…" She muttered, and there was no need for a translation, the tone alone with the look he was getting more than hinted that he's little device was just called weird.

"...well this isn't working." Stormer muttered, frowning at the device in his hand again before sighing. It wasn't a defeated sounding sigh though; Stormer was too strong a Hero to give up that easily. Glancing back at the native, he remarked blandly. "Well, do you have any ideas? Because this is the best I have, and even then it isn't a good one."

The native girl was still giving him an odd look, but now shifting her gaze between his face and the device. She tilted her head and a light seem to ding on before the biomechanical being held her hands out for the thing.

Now the veteran seemed to be in a bit of a better mood and, with a small nod, carefully held the damaged object out for her to take. Every ounce of his circuitry was hoping this plan worked; without this, he'd be utterly doomed. At least, it felt like that would be the case unless some other form of translation miraculously showed up.

The girl seemed to have knowledge of some mechanics at least as she turned the device around in her hands. Then with a glance up at the mech crouched down, looking at him again as she spoke. Not just a few words but apparent full terms and more, with a pattern and a flowing accent. She pointed to Stormer's own feet… no the ground. The impression of 'this might be a while' hanging in the air.

Despite not being fully sure of what she was meaning, the Hero got the gist of what she meant, and nodded, glancing around before clambering back up on top of the wrecked cockpit to take another look around. The last thing he wanted, or needed, was for them to get attacked when something beneficial was about to -potentially- be done.

"…cerou…" the word drifted up to Stormer, the girl having intended to have him just sit down, as there was no predator rahi in these new lands. They hadn't been made yet after all.

The bot looked down at her curiously, not really sure what she meant, but climbing down anyway and settling himself where he was, his expression showing mild confusion. "I still have no idea what that means." He remarked, deciding it was best not to say words he didn't know the meaning of, just in case he might make things worse.

She seemed to be thinking the same thing about what the mech was saying, but was trying to keep up a conversation, or narration as she carefully opened the translation device. Blunted but very nimble fingers gently inspected the inner workings, she dipped into a shimmer of air at her side (Sub-space!) to grab a leather bundle of tools. Some things were universal in a tool kit, and the female used a brush and pick. To clean then pry loose the energy pack and head tilted at the half squished thing.

"Macku," She said looking up at the mech, then handed him the tiny energy pack, saying something with a questioning inflection. Did he have another of these? If not and energy stone might work… or a chip of an energy stone.

Stormer tilted his head at that, not sure quite what she was meaning. "... Macku?" He repeated, his tone showing that he was confused. He then eyed the energy pack and grimaced. He'd seen several of those broken in the cockpit. He knew where he could get a piece of energy stone, but... did he want to do that right off? Hesitating, he held up his finger again to indicate that he wanted a moment, and then crawled back into the cockpit.

His fears were proven correct; every energy pack that had been in the cockpit was now broken. "Scrap..." He muttered quietly, his optics straying from the broken energy packs to his Hero Core's cover plate. Grimacing as he thought it over, he eventually took his core plate off and glanced around for something he could use to chip a tiny part of his Core off. "This is going to hurt..."


	2. Gift of speech

Co-Authored by Dragon Claw92 and Omicron the IceQueen

**Queen's notes**: And thus... semi less confusion for our Hero and Chronicler! Slightly less. XD

**Heroes of Spherus Magna**

Gift of speech

By the time he actually returned to Macku, the mech replaced his core plate, and looked as though he were in severe pain. Even with this though, he proceeded back over to Macku and sat down, holding out the glowing gold shard that he'd gotten off of his Core. "Will this work?" He inquired, keeping his voice steady despite the fact that taking part of his Core off hurt like crazy.

Macku looked up from... well, it was flakes of some kind of stone on animal hide and giving off an energy field as they charged in the sun. She tilted her head at the mech, not understanding but rocked up onto her knees to reach of the chip he offered.

Stormer carefully handed the shard over, turning his gaze to his Hero Core cover plate and grimacing. Sure, it was only a little bit off his Core, but he had no idea if this would alter his performance later or not. Small price to pay, he decided, considering this was likely his one and only chance to actually know what was being talked about. "Hopefully this will work."

Catching the care he was using, the native leaned over and shyly tugged on the mech's armor to get him to sit down by her. She inspected the chip from every possible angle, not having seen anything like it before.

The veteran blinked when she tugged on his armor, but seemed to catch the hint and nodded as he sat down beside her, his glowing blue optics watching as she looked over the glowing, orange-yellow shard. Even though he knew what it is, he couldn't help but admire it. After all, this was the substance that was keeping him 'alive', as it were. Sure, he was -essentially- just a robot, but as he'd heard mentioned so many times by his co-workers, and even his own team; the Core was what made a Hero who they really were.

Macku hummed and chirped, chatting now as she worked on making the chip the right shape- how she was able to was a mystery.

As much as he didn't have a clue what she was saying, Stormer couldn't help but smile a little as he listened to Macku talk. It made him wonder if she even remembered he didn't even know what language she was speaking, let alone what she was saying in it. "You like talking with people, don't you?" He inquired, seeming rather entertained by her. Perhaps she reminded him of some of the other Heroes he worked with before the crash.

The native biomechanical being gave what might be a smile as she started to close the device up and handed it back to the mech. Macku didn't know the settings after all.

It took the translator device a bit, but soon it began to calculate what she was saying and register what language it was. After a minute or two of her chattering, it began to voice what she was saying in words he could understand... well, some of her words. The damaged device appeared to be having trouble with some of the words.

Despite this though, Stormer couldn't help but smile at her. "It's working." He remarked, sounding relieved, though he paused and glanced at the device with curiosity as he heard what sounded like his own voice, speaking words he didn't really understand.

The native girl leaned away from the device, weirded out by it as it talked with his voice, "Mata Nui...not a translation stone after all..."

Stormer raised an 'eyebrow' ridge, his expression showing curiosity at her reaction, and wondering what she'd think when she figured out that it was using what sounded to be her voice to speak back to him. "... Mata Nui?" He inquired. "Translation stone? I don't know what those are."

"Mata Nui is great spirit," Macku said, viva the translation device. "He made our world."

The veteran considered that a bit before nodding. "Ah. That is good to know." He cringed a little as it crackled, cutting out what was probably the 'that is' and 'to' part of what he said. Even still though, the point would get across reasonably well.

The girl leaned over and poked the device, "Weird..."

Suppressing a faint laugh, Stormer nodded. "It's supposed to sound better than this." He remarked, pausing and sighing as it cut out another part of what he said. He figured the basic point got across all the same.

"Are you an Agori?" Macku asked, poking the Hero's nearer foot and then edging back.

He wasn't sure what an Agori was, but at least that helped him answer the question. Unphased by her poking, he shook his head and remarked. "I don't know what an Agori is. I'm..." He paused, thinking about how he should answer it. Would the native even know what Hero Factory was? "...different."

"Yeah, really different," the girl was edging back closer, with the fear bled away all this time she looked more and more like she wanted to investigate. More than likely the natives of this world were more touch oriented as she poked him again.

Though she looked about ready to climb into the Hero's lap!

"I'm Macku, a Ga-Matoran," She introduced herself better now.

Stormer took note of her inquisitiveness and hoped that she wouldn't actually climb into his lap, though by this point there really wasn't much to stop her other than him seeming a little uncomfortable with the theory of it. "I am Preston Stormer, a..." He trailed off again. "... just call me Stormer, and we'll leave it at that."

Macku would probably have to do some more poking to make him say what he was.

"A what," Macku asked, quick to pick that up, "Why did your craft thing fall on my boat? I hope you didn't mean to but it doesn't look like you did. Are you like a Vakii? But you can't be, you're talking- though through a weird the funny thing- are you from another part of Bara Magna?"

The veteran grimaced a little, trying to cover his fumble by asking. "What is a Vahki? I haven't heard of one of those before." He paused before adding. "And... this is Bara Magna, I presume?" Glancing around, he realized that the cockpit had, in fact, crushed a boat, and grimaced a little. "...my landing was an accident. I had intended on something more... subtle. Your boat was not my target."

He merely hoped his attempt to hide from the question would be a success.

"Since it seems in pieces I would assume its an accident," Macku blinked, the inner set of her lids, before getting a little closer, "Yes this is Spherus, well, its our world. These planes don't have a name yet- they weren't made long ago."

"Oh?" He inquired, seeming rather curious about that. "Care to explain a little further? I was sent here for... for..." He paused now. What was he sent there for anyway? Groaning, he shook his head. "I can't recall. At any rate, I will eventually. Is this planet very new?"

"The magna is old, just put back together." Macku corrected, touching Stormer's arm, then his hand, looking at the differences between his and hers. She was all sorts of shades of interested, "You can't remember, that's horrible! Do you remember what you are?"

"Ah, I see." Stormer replied. He then shook his head. "I remember what I am, but what my world calls me might not be what your world would call me. It's... it's a bit complicated."

"Well, different cultures have different meanings, its okay." Macku coaxed, "I won't make fun of you, promise!"

Stormer sighed in defeat. "Very well then. Back home, and on several of the planets near there, I am called a Hero." He tapped his core plate. "I was made at a place called Hero Factory, and it's my job to catch villains and smooth over problems."

The biomechanical girl blinked at him a few times, then blinked at the translation device in confusion. "Hee...herou?" Macku tried to repeat Stormer's own word that he used. Puzzled at what the translator said. "Hero?" Then said, "'Toa?'"

Stormer shook his head. "I don't know what a Toa is. I'm just called a Hero, and have fancy gear to help me out." He glanced regretfully at his broken ice launcher. "...had fancy gear."

"That's armor?" Macku asked, poking the broken armor, and then got a little closer to feel over it with a healer's care and eye.

The veteran glanced at where she poked him, and nodded. "Yes. It's not exactly in good shape thanks to the crash, but I think it protected my components well enough that nothing was severely damaged, so that's always a plus."

Through a gap in a split along part of his wrist guard plates, Macku would've been able to see several wires and cables wrapped around an inner framework, encased by a thinner under armor that looked like it would need a bit of repair as well. There seemed to be nothing organic about Stormer in the slightest. In truth, there really wasn't anything soft and squishy on him, other than, perhaps, a bit of mud.

"You are like a Vahki...but...not," The native marveled, any hesitating gone as she crawled onto the bigger mech, checking any and every crack or stress mark in his armor. As a Ga-Matoran from the island Mata Nui to 'start' with, all of her former villagers had at least advanced healing and mechanic training.

Needless to say, Stormer wasn't exactly happy about having the Matoran crawl on him, but decided not to fuss about it. "...ehm... having fun?" He inquired, though he paused after a moment and added. "What is a Vahki anyway?"

The girl gave a happy squeak seemed to say that Macku was, and it gave the impression the smaller being maybe was younger than the Hero first thought she was.

"Vahki are old robotic guards, but you feel alive." Macku explained.

The veteran couldn't help but be amused by her squeaking noise, and his displeasure at her up-close-and-personal method of curiosity seemed to fade a bit. "Robotic guards?" He repeated, seeming rather intrigued. "...how do I feel alive compared to them?"

"You're warm... and if feels like elemental energy...little strange its just that though." Macku blinked at Stormer's chest at the emblem he'd pointed out before. She chirped as if going 'huh...' in her kind's equivalent.

Stormer thought that over a bit before figuring out what the source was that would cause him to be that way. "Ah... here." Deciding there wouldn't be much harm in doing so presently, he reached up and carefully took off the plate covering his Hero Core, exposing the cylindrical, glowing mineral for Macku to see. One look at it would likely be enough to tell her this was what he got the energy shard for the translator off of.

"This is a Hero Core." He explained. "My heart, in a way. Without this, I wouldn't exist. See, we heroes might have our bodies built and manufactured like machines, but it's our Hero Cores that make us who we really are. It's what separates us from everyone else in our galaxy." He grimaced a little as he eyed the crack and indent where the shard had been broken off. "If a Hero were to ever lose their Core, or if the charge ever fully drained... well, we'd die. Sure, a new Core could be put in, but it wouldn't be the same. We just wouldn't be who we used to."

Macku held her hand over, but not too close, a light coming on with understanding. This was like elemental energy, but also had the distinct look of a heart lights and heart stones of her world. The thought had Macku touching her own heart light.

"It's like a Toa's heart light." She said aloud.

"Heart light?" Stormer inquired, seeming rather curious as he looked from Macku's face to the glowing dot that indicated where her own heart light was. "So... you and the Toa have something similar to Hero Cores?" After a little while, he put his core plate back on, as it was a natural instinct for him to keep his Core covered and protected at all times. After all, he'd seen a particular villain that could remove a Core as easy as shoplifting a small object.

"All Bionicle, Agori and Glatoran have a heart light or heart stone." Macku said, "Toa stones are much stronger, they are our protectors and guardians. They are the elements."

That gave him reason to pause for a moment. "...Elements?" He repeated, his gaze wandering to his broken ice launcher. "...like my team... hm... well that's interesting." He looked back at Macku. "Is it only elemental weapons, or... is it like actual elemental wielding?"

"Toa _are_ the elemental guardians," Macku insisted, her fallowing explanation stopped half way through, looking back at the translation device that wasn't able to keep up. She looked back up into Stormer's blue optics, not sure how to explain.

Stormer sighed as he looked at the device. "Too bad this thing is broken," He muttered. "It would be a lot easier if it was in good repair." He glanced back at the sky almost wistfully. "Too bad Nex isn't here... No matter though." He looked back at Macku and shrugged slightly, showing he wasn't fully sure how to work around the issue of the translation device either.

"Need a translation stone," Macku insisted, "Their made out of Kanoka disks. Much better." she looked around, pouted at her rather squished boat then looked back up, "...can you swim?"

The mech paused to consider that a moment. "I... can." He mused thoughtfully. "I might be a bit slow at it though; I don't have the sort of gear that would make it an easy task, and with my armor cracked, it might be a risky move to do that, but if that's what we have to do, then that's what will have to be done."

"We're a few bios away from the nearest suva, more from a Koro...but the suva should have a boat or we can call a Toa for help." Macku looked at the water ways then at the mech, "you can probably walk most of the way, its not that deep."

Hearing that he could walk most of the way seemed to help him feel better about the situation. "That works for me then. The less water I get through my armor, the better off I'll be." He decided not to ask how far a bios was; he probably wouldn't have anything to compare length to as it was.

"...its still deeper than my head," Macku felt the need to point out as she reluctantly got of the mech's lap, "I hope it won't hurt you."

That little reminder appeared to make Stormer uncertain again, and as she got off, he looked over his armor to figure out where all the dangerous gaps were. "Hm... well, I'll just have to be careful then, won't I? I don't think I'll be running too many risks."

...well, he hoped he wouldn't be running any risks. He wasn't showing it, but he was quite concerned about some of the cracks in his armor; more was exposed than he cared to admit. He wasn't about to show anything that might make Macku worry about him though, not if he could help it.

"Should I make you a raft...?" Macku asked, moving to let the mech up as she grasped at the tough reeds.

The veteran grimaced a little as he thought about it. "... It might be a good idea, but... how long would it take? I don't want to spend time we needn't use if it would be too much trouble." He was starting to show more of his 'get the job done quick' side, though at least he was willing to acknowledge that he very well might need a raft in order to avoid getting himself jolted.

"Not too long if you could help me harvest the right reeds," the girl looked back, having an armful all ready, eyeing the mech as if trying to esimat how much he weighed.

Stormer nodded as he stood up, ignoring the mud and dirt that spattered his frame. "Alright. What sort of reed am I looking for?"

"Like these, the longer and blue-green ones." Macku came back over to show him her bundle. The reeds were surprisingly hard and sturdy.

The white bot nodded, looking over the reeds she'd collected before moving to gather together some more for her. Sturdy as they may have been, Stormer didn't seem to have a whole lot of trouble with collecting some. "Was there a specific amount you needed?" He asked while he worked.

"More than that, you're all metal so...nice and floaty instead of half floaty," The Matoran chirped, as she added another smaller armload, then started sorting.

He nodded again to show he understood before continuing to gather and harvest reeds for Macku. "Floaty is probably a good plan. Half floaty, while cleaner, isn't something I'm fond of yet, not until I'm a bit patched up." He paused for a moment before adding as an after thought. "Thank you for your help, by the way."

"I'm a Ga-Matoran, we're healers," Macku said, grinning in the odd way of her people. By the time Stormer came back she had woven the base fame of the raft, big enough that the mech could sit or kneel and still just small enough to make it through the waterways. "I'm the Chronicler in this area too, and you're a story if I ever did run into one!"

"Can a healer mend circuitry?" Stormer inquired, seeming curious as he brought back an armful of reeds. He then paused, smiling faintly in amusement before turning to get more reeds, though he'd stop if she said she had enough. "I am, huh? Hopefully it's a good story and not a boring, or bad one."

Macku looked up, giggling, "Well, we can our own...but its blended with our organic half. If we can't an Uno- or Ta-Matoran crafter should be able to."

"So... there are different sub-types of Matoran?" He inquired, seeming a little curious as he continued to harvest reeds.

"There's a lot of different Matoran, depending on our inner elemental power." She tilted her head at the white-brown mech, fighting the urge to pounce and clean.

* * *

Reviews!  
[Yay!]

Species Unknown

Omicron- Macku is speaking Bionicle! Lol I've been working on trying to have a spoken language for the Matoran to add to stories.

Autobot Phoenix

Omicron- Well, here's the neck chapter! Hope you like it as well.


	3. Start off

Co-Authored by Dragon Claw92 and Omicron the IceQueen

**Queen's notes**: And thus... semi less confusion for our Hero and Chronicler! Slightly less. XD

**Heroes of Spherus Magna**

Start off

Stormer, oblivious to Macku's desire to tackle him and clean his armor up, thought that over a bit and nodded as he continued on. "I see... hm... I think I understand that one. It's like different nationalities, in a way." He didn't quite remember that Macku probably didn't know what he was talking about.

"Na...ta...lits...natio...nalities?" The girl tried really hard to say the word the Hero used, as the little translation thing by them wasn't working to shift that word into Matoran. Though she said it, Macku didn't pronounce the correct empathies, and knew it. She wished she had that knack that Matoro, Taka, Tala and Turaga Nokama all did for picking up new words and dialect so fast without the stones.

Stormer gave a faint smile of sorts. "Valiant effort." He remarked, bringing over some more reeds. "Hm... need more still, or is that enough?"

Macku paused what she was doing, so far already she had done an amazingly fast but also strong work. "That should do it, could you get some of the brown plants? There should be enough around this little island."

"On it." He responded, giving a small nod as he set off doing as she asked. "... I take it you are well practiced with raft construction?"

"I used to be a boat builder back in my first Koro," Macku beamed, "Comes in handy, though I don't know anything around here I can turn into a motor..." She eyed the wreckage, not trusting it.

Stormer paused to consider that, his gaze also straying to the wreck of his cockpit, and the unfortunate vessel it landed on. "Hm..." He shook his head afterwards; he doubted anything had survived that could even remotely be used like a motor. "Well, that would explain your skill then."

"I've had a long time to practice," Macku giggled, and maybe for now it would be better if the other-worlder didn't know exactly how _old_ this Matoran really was.

"Oh?" Stormer inquired. "How long have you been at your trade?"

"Since before Bara Magna was reform...well, not that long. Since just after Mata Nui fell to the Makuta and I woke up on the island of Mata Nui."

The veteran raised an eyebrow ridge. "Ehm... I'm not sure how long that is, Miss."

The girl tried to say the time for him, and frowned as the translation device wasn't having it, pitching a sparking fit in fact. The Matoran sighed, it seemed the old faction way of translating time would have to do if this mech wanted to really know.

"...maybe I can carve a time line in the Suva if there isn't one already..." Macku thought aloud.

Stormer frowned at the machine as well. "Perhaps I'll have to find out later." He remarked with mild annoyance. "At any rate..." He then looked back at Macku. "All things in their own time I suppose. I just hope my team is in better shape than my vehicle's cockpit is." He waved his hand vaguely at the wreckage as he said this, though he dropped off the arm-load of plants Macku had asked him to get first.

"Team?" the Ga-Matoran asked, the odd device's translation of calling this Stormer a Toa, and with Team, her mind automatically linked it to a Toa Team. But that can't be...right?

He nodded as he glanced back at her. "Yes. I'm the leader of my team, actually. The rest of my team was with the rest of my ship, but I don't even know where they ended up after the vehicle blew apart."

The Matoran native considered this, then looked upwards thoughtfully. She was scanning around carefully, tiling back until she flopped on her back, still intent on the sky above, one of the two moons showing blue-white off to the eastern side of the sky.

Stormer brought over another armload of plant matter in time to see her tumble over, optic ridge lifting again as he considered her position for a moment. "...having fun?"

Bright tri-colored eyes turned to him and blinked, "I'm looking for the Toa I saw earlier." She said, pointing up and to her right, rising up and still pointing, "But he's too far away to see us well I think..."

"Looking... for Toa...?" He repeated, glancing up at the sky as well out of confusion, and trying to focus on whatever she was pointing at. "Toa can fly?"

"Toa if Air can," Macku said, pointing out. The title did imply it a bit.

"Ah." Was all he really could say in response, considering it a bit more. "Well, that certainly makes sense... How many Toa are there anyway? Do you know?"

"Total?" Macku shook her head, "After the last Great Darkness there's been more Toa then ever, Though... I guess some of our new protectors are Glatorian, not Toa...but some are Toa like." She paused getting back to work, "Or, do you mean elemental types of Toa?"

Stormer just seemed more confused now. "I don't even know what the difference between a Toa and a Glatorian is, but I was meaning the total amount of Toa."

"Well...Toa are Bionicle, like me!" Macku held out her arms to show her balance self of flesh and mechanics, "Not all the Glatorian are like Bionicle, its more enhancements or limb replacements. And Toa are elementals too."

"So... you are biomechanical... and Glatorian are generally fleshy?" Stormer summarized. "... and Toa have elemental power, while Glatorian don't?"

"Most don't, a few like Toa Ackar where given elemental gifts by the great spirit." Macku tried to explain, realizing that the wonderfully complex histories of two cultures was hard enough...try explain it to an outsider of a third culture?

Her head started to hurt. How had Taka done this as Takua? He always knew what stories would help explain things when he was the Chronicler...

"... ehm... maybe just keep it to basics for now." The mech remarked with a small grimace. "A simple ' most don't but some do' would work. It might take me a while to figure out the whole rest of how things work around here."

"Oh... well, luckily I'm a chronicler!" if a biomechanical being could preen that's what Macku was doing, taking great pride in her job and duties.

"A chronicler, hm?" Stormer responded, considering that for a moment. The first thing that had jumped to his mind was a reporter for a news network, but he had a feeling that wasn't quite what Macku meant. As such, he didn't get too bothered about the thought, and smiled faintly. "I can tell you're rather fond of your job. I take it you get to see a lot of things most people generally wouldn't?"

"That's part of being a Story Keeper," The Ga-Matoran explained as she worked, well able to do both, "We have to find the stories, sometimes as their happening, and then update the Chronicle walls in the different Koros, and the new Chronicle Hall in Metru Nui."

He considered this information as well, smiling a little more as he responded. "I take it you were looking for stories when I... dropped in to say hello?"

"I was looking for a path between Ga-Koro Ru and Po-Koro Ru," the girl explained, "This whole Wahi is so new, even we Matoran haven't explored it, nor have the two Makuta made enough Rahi to fill it."

"Ah... what is 'Ru' exactly?" The mech inquired. "And... what is a Makuta?"

"Oh, there's so many Koros now, we're added masks names on the new sets to help tell them apart." Macku explained, starting to stuff the raft with the second plant type.

Stormer nodded to show he got the gist of what she said, making sure it was set in his memory bank so he wouldn't forget it any time soon. "...did you need more materials, or is this enough?"

The native girl tilted her head and then nodded, "It should be fine, you'll be a little damp but not soaked."

He smiled a bit at her response. "Alright. Damp I can handle." He glanced down at himself and frowned a bit afterwards. "It might be a good plan, actually." Clearly he was referring to the mud and dirt that caked his frame.

"You can get cleaned up at Ga-Koro," Macku offered, and there was hint in her voice that said that the mech was going to be cleaned one way or another.

Stormer took note of that hint, but -for the present- thought nothing of it. "That sounds like a good plan to me. The last thing I need or want is to get rusty and fall apart."

"You can get rust infections," Macku jerked, startled as she was finishing the raft.

"Hm?" Stormer inquired, seeming a little confused. "It's not an infection. The metal just deteriorates if it's left dirty and damp for too long. It generally takes a lot to make us heroes rust, but still, it can still happen."

"Rust infections can be as fatal as corruption or infected Kanohi," Macku shivered, touching her mask then hugging herself, biomechanical rust would not only effect half of her body, but poison the other organic half as well.

The mech noticed her unease and grimaced a bit. Perhaps discussing rust would be a bad idea for the present. "Well... let's just be glad it doesn't happen frequently, right? At any rate, this seems like a bad topic, so we should find a new one."

The Ga-Matoran shivered again, then tide of last reeds on the raft. She stood and stepped back as if debating on how to get it too the water.

Stormer noticed her debate, and smiled a little as he remarked. "Did you want me to move that for you?"

Macku blinked both sets of lids up at the mech, tilting her head, "If you'd like to." She smiled in that odd but also enduring Bionicle way.

The Hero nodded as he walked over, carefully lifting the finished raft and glancing around a bit. "Alright, now all we have to do is head out." His tone seemed to at least somewhat imply that he wasn't sure which way to go.

The native Matoran pointed to the side, then to another, and another as she giggled, trilling softly, "It's an island."

Stormer's optics followed Macku's pointing, and he gave an awkward sigh. "...right. Just about anywhere works then doesn't it." As he said this, he moved to put the raft down in the water, thankful that the rookies on his team weren't there to watch his blunder.

Macku hopped past Stormer, diving into the semi-shallow water expertly so she didn't hit the bottom. Instantly the Ga-Matoran's grace was apparent, well able to move, she was made for the water it seemed.

The Hero, in the meantime, got onto the raft and, after a bit of debate on how to move the raft, picked up a stick to use as a rafting pole. The raft he was sitting on moved, being pushed from below and slightly to one side, Macku helping to guide the other-worlder.

The mech blinked, but smiled faintly. "Ah, thank you." He glanced around again as he drifted along on the raft. Despite being new to everything, and the fact he'd been in a crash, he was rather enjoying this.

Maybe because it was the calm quiet of the wetland, the farther they left the crash site and the many sounds of creaking, protesting of a- essentially- decaying ship. There was however a slight unease that would take time to place, that other than the rustling of reeds and plants in the breeze, there was hardly any insect sounds here. The water was too clear, almost like glass to see the rivets in the earth and clay below where water had seemingly poured through before filling up to the level of the countless mini-islands. Something was almost artificial about these wetlands.

Needless to say, all the unusual surroundings was putting Stormer on edge. "Is it always like this around here?" He asked after a while, his expression showing his lack of contentment with the present situation. He was a bit uneasy, and it was obvious.

The Matoran looked back from where she was swimming and guiding the raft, "What do you mean?"

"Everything just seems... not real." The veteran hero explained with a small grimace. It's too pristine... too perfect, I guess one could say."

"There's no Rahi beasts." The Matoran smiled at him, "The Makuta can't make animals that fast, there's only two of them now, the only survivors. Mata Nui can remake the dead lands into new livable Wahi like this, but much is left clear and open until the Makuta can fill it."

He thought it over a bit, humming thoughtfully before realizing something. "... wait... people have to actually make creatures to live here? They don't just... happen on their own?"

"If you mean just organic creatures yes, to a point. The Makuta are the brothers of Mata Nui, he or the Great Beings made them to fill our old Universe with life." The Matoran pulled herself up a little on the raft, folding her arms over the side to look up at the mech, alternating between kicking and pushing off the bottom to still help. "Matoran for a very long time, we used to live on Aqua Manga, not Bara Magna, it was a moon we used to have that was all water."

Stormer thought it over a bit, sorting through the details as best he could. "What happened to Aqua Magna? And how did you end up here instead of being there?"

"That's a long story," Macku warned, paddling gently in the semi-shallow water, "But I guess it won't be until evening that we reach Ga-Koro."

The mech seemed amused. "Well, I'm fine to hear it if you want to tell it. If you want to save it for some other time though, go for it."

"There shouldn't be any predator Rahi around, so I think I can," the Matoran let go of the raft and swam a head a little to see which way to push the front on the right path. Coming back she grasped the raft again, "Okay... lets try this story like I do with the Agori... from the start-start."

"Alright then." He replied, raising an optic ridge at 'start-start', but not commenting on it further.

* * *

Reviews!  
[Yay!]

**Species Unknown**

Omicron- I believe we're chatting about that right now XD


	4. An interlude

Co-Authored by Dragon Claw92 and Omicron the IceQueen

**Queen's notes**: Croniclers are great for passing time, even if you only get half of what they say XD

**Heroes of Spherus Magna**

An interlude

"So, as you can see Bara Magna has been fused together with its parts to be Spherus Magna, we still have two moons," the Matoran pointed up at the darkening sky, where the green moon was visible and silver glittered on the horizon, "Those of us, Bionicle, Agori and Glatorian, are all helping to bring the rest or planet's surface to life again, in the way of Rahi creatures not just the land and plants that the Great Spirit did." She went quiet, letting the long and admittedly complex story sink in as long as it took, the female kicking her legs in the water, ready to catch another strange fish for her own dinner to go along with the plants she had been collecting throughout the day.

Stormer took a while to compute this information, almost seeming like there was a faint whirring while his mind worked. Eventually though, he gave a small nod. That is rather complex, and confusing, but I think I understand it... most of it. I don't fully understand how a Matoran becomes a Toa, or... or that your universe was a giant robot... but I suppose I will figure that out in time, right?"

"Like I said, that was subspace technology on a massive, global scale," Macku said innocently, looking back at the mecha with wide tri-colored eyes. "From the Great Beings."

The veteran took a moment longer to consider it. "...essentially, something I probably won't ever fully understand?" He had, after all, been built for performance on field, not computing something as complex as subspace technology on that large a scale. "... What are the Great Beings? ...who or what created them?"

"I don't know; I'm just a modern and semi-distant past Chronicler." The native shrugged, then seemed to think, "You have a subspace pocket right?" She took out a Le-Koro made spear, extending it only partly, as it was the act of using sub space Macku wanted to show.

Stormer nodded once. "Yes. Not very big, but large enough to carry our weapons in." He knew he had his with him, even if it was broken. He wasn't a mechanic, but he felt he may as well try to fix it if possible.

"Okay, now imagine you pocket is as big as you," the Matoran started, smiling. "You can hold a lot of stuff and supplies right?"

He nodded again as he considered it. "Yes, that is true." He paused before cluing in. "...so these Great Beings somehow made a subspace pocket big enough to hide a universe inside a robot." He seemed blown away by this information. "...what Zib wouldn't do with information like that..." Needless to say, he was definitely impressed.

"Well, we called it the Matoran universe, but realistically," Macku gave the mech a sheepish look, "it was more like the equivalent mass of a moon, only flattened and stretched out."

"Ah... well, still in a way it was your universe for the time." Stormer pointed out with a small chuckle of sorts. "Thus, calling it a universe makes sense."

"Yes," the Ga-Matoran gave a pleased, almost light purring sound. She looked around, free to do so as it wasn't her turn to push, "I think we should stop and find a place to settle before its completely dark. I can see more or less in it but that only goes so far. I'm not a fire or earth Toa after all!"

"Very well." The veteran responded, nodding as he glanced around as well. "The question is though, where should we stop at? I don't know what spot would be a good one."

"There _shouldn't_ be any predator Rahi out this far... So I guess whichever of these stable islands seems alright." Macku examined one as she slid off the raft and into the now cool waters, unaffected by it as the girl swam over to look first.

She still didn't understand the whole thing should Stormer being a 'Venetian Hero' and that as a technical civilian she should be the one staying back.

Stormer wasn't long in pushing the raft after her, keeping an eye out for potential trouble just in case, even with her assurance. "That works for me." He didn't seem to be the sort to sit around and just wait for someone to report back, and considering his history. He was usually the go-first guy, and while he didn't mind Macku's going on ahead, it made him wonder why when she knew he was- where he was from- a Hero.

"Just a little fluffing is needed," Macku giggled, still just with in the translator's range. "Can you grab my gabri fish please?" She asked, not finding anything but an old Gukko bird nest, long sense used and left.

"A little... fluffing?" Stormer inquired, seeming confused as he nodded and picked up the fish she was referring to. He gave it a quick look over, as though studying it to make sure he knew what a gabri fish looked like for later on. Once he was done his quick look, he got off the raft and moved closer, taking the translator with him. "What else is there I can do to help with this?"

"The fish?" Macku looked up from gathering some plants that grew between the reeds, "Oh, I you... er, or I can eat that raw. Most all Ga- Le- and Ko-Matoran can do that with most fish, like Ta- Po- and Onu-Matoran can eat red meat if they need to. Taste better cooked, but we found out what we were capable of doing in the Cataclysm and after."

"I was meaning in general actually." He responded, raising an optic ridge with small amusement. "I don't think I can eat something like this anyway." Going by his tone, it was clear his lack of eating wasn't due to disgust, but a lack of capability for it. "Is there somewhere you wanted me to put this so I can be more useful in some other way?"

"I...guess that depends on how you want to sleep..." The girl paused, blinked and looked up at the white Hero, and asked a very valid question to her. "Um, do you sleep?"

Stormer shook his head. "I don't. As long as my core stays charged, I'm not about to power down any time soon, and if my core does lose charge... well... I wouldn't be waking up."

"You can still rest though?" Macku worried, coming back over to the mech.

"... Sort of." He replied, thinking about it a bit. "I have a power-save ability that lowers my functioning to the bare minimum without shutting down. I've also got a power cable that, if it's disconnected, will shut me down. I'd rather not unplug that cable though... as for the power-save setting, the only issue with that is that it takes a little while to reset back to normal, and while I'm in power-save mode, I'm a lot slower, and less capable, than when I'm on my usual setting."

"It's not a big deal though, really; my core was charged before I left the factory, so..." He paused to try and figure out how much time he had left. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea how long he had until he'd need another recharge.

"So... Like being in a feel elemental meditation." Macku said slowly, trying to link it with what she knew, "only just not the part about mapping energies. Aware but giving delayed reactions to simulation?"

"... Sure." Stormer responded after trying to compute what she said. "... I don't know what elemental meditation, but the last part of what you said matches up properly."

"We all...er," Macku caught her self as she settled down in a small camp site, using a knife off her leg to cut up her armored fish. She looked and smiled at the growing dark as a few insects gave hesitant chirps, and then more confident buzzing. "We Bionicle all have the ability to sense elemental energy, but only Toa can map or even pin point it, most Matoran have to concentrate or meditate to get a base higher level. Like at the level our elders can do."

The girl thought about it, "yes and no, we believe that all living thins are made from the elements, such as the main ones of fire, earth, stone, as well as water, ice and air." Macku touched her chest meaning her element of water, "Each one is independent but linked to all the others. Toa-sense, and it's called that because Toa are so attuned to the elements, tells you what's out in the world you can't see with your eyes, in darkness, shadows, or beyond a wall or wall of current of water."

"Hm... alright." The veteran bot remarked, thinking it over a bit. "I think that makes more sense... though... what is the difference between earth and stone?"

"Um, scale. Form," Macku explained after two tries and a poke at the translator. "Stone is solid, firm and strong." She picked up a loose pebble and tossed it at the mech, then a handful of earth to let it fall between her fingers, "earth is softer, forgiving and nurturing life to grow in it."

"... ah." Stormer responded, nodding as he had it figured out now. "That makes more sense now. Thank you, Macku."

"It can get complex with the interweaving of elements." The native admitted, nibbled on the raw fish.

Stormer nodded a bit. "I can tell. As it is my database is still running on high to try and sort this through fully."

Macku giggled, at least it wasn't Taka here; he would have likely overloaded the mech with stories. Even if her best friend was a Toa, he would always be the best Story Keeper she knew, and always had one for the asking. She giggled again at the image of the Toa of light leader as an old Turaga, and made a note to tease her friend about that.

Stormer, in the meantime, took another quick look around in case of danger, likely a habit programmed in. Seeing they were still alright, he looked back at Macku. "Is there anything else I should know before you settle down for the night?"

"Oh, I won't be out all night, I just need a nap, the Suva's not too far. But it's been a long day for me." Macku admitted, she had been mapping the watery landscape after all for a pathway between villages. "I promise, not more than an hour, the Suva will be warmer."

"Heat doesn't bother me in the slightest." The veteran assured her. "I was built to last all temperatures possible." He gave a small nod now as he stood up. "If you don't need my help for anything else, then I hope you rest well. I've heard it's important for organics, or partially organics, to get a good rest."

"And just because I can survive in a Ko-Wahi doesn't mean I like being frozen." Macku rolled her eyes, and settled down for her nap.

Stormer raised an optic ridge as he glanced at her, thinking it over a bit before shrugging a little and looking around again.

* * *

Reviews!

**Species Unknown**

Omie- Thank you!


	5. Welcoming Party

Co-Authored by Dragon Claw92 and Omicron the IceQueen

**Queen's notes**: Hero, meet another hero!

**Heroes of Spherus Magna**

Welcoming Party

It had been a while now since Macku got up from her rest, and the trip had been rather boring... however, everything changed when the wind did. Stormer gave a sudden shudder and glanced around. "...are my sensors malfunctioning, or does something smell... wrong?"

The female looked up and snorted, than sniffed the air, she blinked both sets of lids. "That's odd."

"That word works too, but it doesn't explain what it is." The veteran remarked, frowning as he glanced around, mostly in the direction of the wind. "What sort of thing even makes a scent like that?"

Mack tapped her fingers on her light armor, walking along beside the mech, but standing on one of the many small islands while he drifted on the raft. It just about put them even. "I... I don't know but it seemed familiar somehow..."

Stormer didn't know if he liked the sounds of this or not, keeping an eye out on the surroundings to try and figure out what was out there. "Familiar in a good way? Or a bad way?"

"Bad, that smells like...Visorak..." the girl shivered taking a few steps closer to the safety that water was to a Ga-Matoran.

The bot thought that over. "...Visorak... you mentioned those to me earlier, didn't you?" He asked grimly, his expression showing plainly that he wasn't liking this situation in the slightest.

Nodding, and pulling out her collapsed spear to hold onto Macku spoke up again, "Yes I did, they are, very, bad rahi. They're the ones with the mutagen venom."

"...right. Those ones." Stormer instinctively moved to pull out his weapon, but remembered it was broken and stopped himself. "...what's the likelihood that it will find us?"

"I'm not sure if it is one of the spiders, they travel in hordes, not alone," The Matoran sniffed again. "This is different."

"...mutant hybrid?" The bot suggested, expression still grim as he kept an eye out on the surroundings. "I've seen a few mutant creatures before, and none of them were fun to deal with..."

"A mutant Visorak...?" The Ga-Matoran looked visible sick, and the dark hide between the blue armor took a more gray than brown tint. "I don't think so... its more than likely an altered Rahi... and that mound wasn't there before." She added in a tone that was calm but the snapping of a spear extending was warning that she wasn't as calm.

Stormer gave a small nod of sorts as he turned his gaze to the bump she indicated. "...a burrower, perhaps?"

"I'd rather not find out," Macku said backing up and crouching to step into the water, but she froze for a moment at seeing the hill move up higher.

The veteran bot watched the hill suspiciously, ready to move, but hoping whatever it was wouldn't go for them as he too got lower down on his raft to try and make himself harder to see.

The earth shifted... and growled, rising up as the island split and cracked, falling away as large oval eyes, a bright glowing three tone color of reds in the cent and back drop, with a horizontal green ring. A massing head shook free the dirt, the grasses and aquatic moss hanging off it and two sets of curling and curving horns, giving it a shaggy look. The rest of the creature was still in the muck, but already partly standing up at a good twelve feet, twice as tall as the white mech.

Stormer's optics widened as he stared up at it. "...What... is that...?" For the moment, he seemed to almost forget he was a Hero. Granted, this creature was huge, and he... well, wasn't.

And those were some sizable teeth, even if they were scarily blunt.

"That was a... a rahi- and it's different...oh Mata Nui." The Ga-Matoran gasped spotting dull, rotted metal, flailing as she stepped too far and fell into the water. Only to pop back up, alarmed, "That's an infected Kanohi! Run!"

The creature, monster, roared and snapped.

Stormer flinched slightly at the roar, and quickly made to follow Macku. "That sounds like a very smart idea!" He could easily recall what Macku told him about infected masks, and though seeing one here was a bit confusing for him, he wasn't about to stop and ask questions. This was, after all, a time for action, and at the moment, that action was run. Very, very fast.

The Matoran flipped her spear into subspace and dove under the water, able to move much faster in it than over the islands like the mech for now. She was racing as the monster lunged up to all fours, shaking off the rest of the debris, one massive paw that was half claw half hoof came down on the raft Stormer used to be on.

Luckily for Stormer, he wasn't on the raft when this happened. His only problem now, however, was speed. He wasn't equipped for moving quickly through water, and he was still damaged, which impeded him even more. Despite this though, he did his best to keep up with Macku, his circuits humming as he tried to come up with away to possibly slow this monster down.

"Jump!" Macku yelled at the mech, launching herself up out of the water to scramble, and then had a running pace over the land, and jumped the short distance between this island to the next in the network. "You're too heavy to swim, up and over like this!"

The veteran managed to follow her, stumbling a little, but keeping on his feet as he raced after her. "Just had to get to land so I could manage that!" He remarked grimly. "I didn't get much of a chance to choose where I landed when I abandoned ship earlier!" He glanced briefly over his shoulder to gauge how far behind them the monstrous creature was. "How fast is that creature anyway?"

"They can nearly match a land Toa- Run to the Suva before it get's its balance!" Macku was panicked, and putting all her energy into fleeing, the Bionicle agility and her own sport history showing.

"That doesn't help me gauge the speed!" Stormer called after her, doing his best to keep up with her, though he did end up stumbling once or twice, something that cost him a fair bit of ground he was barely able to make back. "Does that thing have a weak point?"

"It means faster than we can go! And I don't know; it's not like I'm a Rahaga hunter!" The girl flailed but kept her balance as she looked back, seeing the mutated Rahi on its feet and starting to slog after the two, its heavier weight made the creature move at a slower rate, but it was still steadily gaining after mecha and Bionicle.

"Well, that's a speed I can at least understand." Stormer remarked, glancing over his shoulder and considering the situation a moment before getting an idea. Digging into his subspace and pulling out his only semi-functioning gun -he'd tampered with it a bit while Macku had been asleep- he pointed it at the soft ground in front of the Rahi and fired. An uncontrolled burst of what appeared to be liquid ice shot out, hitting the ground right in front of the monster and freezing it, though the impact also sent a spray of mud up, covering the ice just enough to make it hard to spot. Unfortunately, the kickback on his weapon hadn't been fixed, and ended up sending Stormer right off his feet, hitting the mud and sinking him in a little.

He wasted no time in getting himself loose, but by now he was likely in a severe danger zone, and all he could really do was hope the Rahi slipped enough to slow it down while he tried to catch up with Macku again.

The mutated rahi gave a trumpeting sound as it slid on the ice and mud, the fore hooves splaying out, and the massive head falling so one of the horns impaled into the soft earth by Stormer.

The mech was grasped by the arm and hefted up to his feet, Macku supporting the Hero for a moment before stepping away. She then rushed forward to thrust the spear ahead and into a gap between the armored head and infected mask. Macku yelped as if stung, but pushed at the spear turned lever to try and get the infected, rusty thing off.

Stormer gave a sharp, inhale-like noise as the horn just missed him, though he quickly got to his feet when Macku helped him up, expression grim as he moved in to try and help somehow. After all, he may have knocked the creature down, but it wasn't out, and until it was out of the fight there was no knowing what sort of trouble could happen.

"Push, push!" Macku cried, shoving with all her Bionicle born strength, her eyes on the staff as the unhealthy rusty colorations was moving from the infected mask to the spear, fallowing it up slowly to the Matoran. She looked at it, scared to death but still trying to remove it before the corruption made it to her.

Stormer nodded, taking hold of the spear lower down than Macku's hands and pushing with everything he could conjure up. He wasn't sure what the rust colorations meant, but it didn't take much for him to tell that Macku was afraid of it, and that meant it wasn't anything good. He decided he would ask questions about it later on, when their lives didn't depend on actions.

The creature's head jerked away, dragging the two with it by the spear, Macku yelped in turn as she was now under the bigger mech. "Don't let the corruption touch you- it infects the mind!" She was scrambling for her feet as the mutated creature bellowed, and a few seconds later something else roared an echo, but in a different tone of a second creature.

Stormer dug in his feet as he was moved, still holding onto the spear and trying to pry the infected mask off. "Great... another go round at going crazy." He muttered to himself before shaking his head and asking. "Do I want to know what that second call was?"

"What second call-" Macku yelped as she was jarred again, slipping on a patch of the ice and falling in an awkward pile in front of white feet. The Rahi growled, jerking his head up to get the little things away from its head, and to look up.

Stormer ended up jolted off his feet as well, forced to let go and ending up landing face-down in the mud nearby. Pulling his head out of the soft earth, he looked towards Macku, pushing himself out of the dirt and trying to help her up, though his optics were scanning the area, and keeping watch on the Rahi they were so dangerously close to.

The Matoran scrambled, getting a hold on the now no longer white mech, her grip was tightening as she watched orange flakes drifting down from above. Those glowing, tri-colored eyes looked up to see the infected Kanohi was flaking where the spear was still logged in. And then she screamed, scrambling to get away from the corruption that was so dangerous to Matoran.

The veteran wasn't as old as he was due to delaying, and no sooner had he caught sight of Macku's growing terror than he quite easily picked her up fully and made as fast as a retreat as he could, not daring to look back until they had at least made a little bit of headway in regard to escaping.

Macku wasn't exactly still, slapping at the muck on her form, then at his shoulders. At least being so covered the mud, it in turn insulated them from the flakes and once covered she was able to smear the orange and red flakes off safely, though she was more batting and slapping

Despite the distraction of being smeared with muck, Stormer kept running, letting Macku continue her endeavour as he kept running. He was used to holding onto moving 'targets', and at the present the Matoran in his arms wasn't causing too much of a problem. It wasn't like she kicked him, after all, and until she did something of that magnitude, it wouldn't have been hard to tell that the Hero's main focus was set to escape.

The earth shook, in a rhythmic thumping as the Rahi got back to its feet and make three bounds after the mech, the gaping maw open and descending. Then the creature gave a strangled sound, suddenly jerking to the side and away from Stormer and Macku, the sound of an even larger impact sounding of metal on metal. A deeper roar sounding, thunder deep and in comparison to the mutated creature, the second one sounded purely predator.

Stormer was nearly thrown off balance as the creature grew closer, but kept his footing and, even with the great beast being distracted, didn't stop to look back. If he had to know what was going on, he figured Macku would be the one to point it out on the way.

"Hewkii!" The Ga-Matoran cried, sounding relieved, but her grip on the mech didn't waver.

"Macku run!" A deep voice yelled, a snarling growl laced in the voice, and from the sound the speaker was big. "Both of you get to the Suva!"

The veteran bot didn't need to be told twice, since he'd pretty much been trying to pull that off already as it was. "I'm not sure who your friend is, but I owe him a thank you later." He remarked grimly, optics scanning around for an idea of where they were supposed to be going. "Macku am I going in the right direction?"

"Yes, ahead, fallow the elemental glow- wait, you can't-" She pointed forward, "It's the rounded thing ahead with blue lights!"

Giving the faintest of nods, the mech did his best to speed up, though he couldn't go as fast as before due to the added weight of carrying Macku. "Got it." He responded, taking note of the glowing lights, though he also made sure to keep an eye on the surroundings just in case there was something that could potentially get in his way or make him trip on the way there.

Something big came swooping overhead, there was more of a sense of movement and mass dropping behind and almost around Stormer. There was a wet thumping as two very large hands curled around both, lifting Stormer, and in turn Macku up and into a swirling wind.

"What the-" Stormer started saying, almost moving to react, but stopping himself before any such actions were done. Instead, he continued to hold onto Macku, trying to get a better view of what, or who, had just picked them up. The tone in his voice, however, was more than enough to imply he didn't take kindly to surprises when he was focused on other things.

A deep, almost armor vibrating deep rumble, a growl- no a purr came from the being holding the two, "Easypeace little brother, this is a ToaHero not Rahibeast, we will protect you," As he spoke in a strange rhythmic flow of alien words, almost like a song as it- he, loped with far longer strides to the Suva temple. And as soon as he was in the light, even dim, the robotic like giant stooped, green armor glowing brightly.

The veteran just studied the being closely, trying to make heads or tails of just what he was looking at, as well as, perhaps, what the being said. Part of it he understood, but the linked words were making it take longer for his processors to work through. Eventually though, he had it figured out reasonably enough, and gave a faint nod. "Alright. ... Thank you."

The being lowered them to the ground, dropping Stormer but catching Macku and letting her off his hand with gentle care and a green, one red, orange and white eye winking before rising back up and turning to charge back to the sounds of the fight in the dark.


	6. Friendly Natives

Co-Authored by Dragon Claw92 and Omicron the IceQueen

**Queen's notes**: Watch out for a panicking Ga-Matoran... and what the Toa of stone can do with his head!

**Heroes of Spherus Magna**

Friendly Natives

Luckily, Stormer was fast enough to make the landing, though he staggered a little before turning to look up at the being. He wasn't bothered about the fact he was dropped, or that Macku got a gentler ride down. The only thing that bothered him was that the being was so much bigger than him, and -perhaps- had done a far better job than Stormer ever could have. He didn't speak up about it though, just shaking his head a little before turning to look around the general area now and take in the details.

The green being jumped, the air surging up around him to add to the leap, three strides and the 'ToaHero' was in the fray, tackling the monster as the other even bigger being with an impressive crest was knocked back.

Stormer had looked over in time to see the 'ToaHero' join the fight, and gave a quiet sigh-like noise. It took him a moment or two, but finally he shook his head and looked at Macku. "Are you alright?"

The Matoran shook herself, seeming dazed a bit, then dived into the water to clean herself, popping back up into the light to do a rapid circle dance to check herself over, "Is any on me!?" She was almost back to panicking again. "I don't want to be a Shadow Matoran!"

Stormer just watched her before sighing quietly. "You're fine, Macku. Just calm down; panicking isn't going to help either of us, and we're safe now. Those... larger beings helped us."

"No, no the things that were falling from the infected Kanohi, did any get on me?" Macku insisted, then looked at the mech and coiled just before Stormer was bodily tackled himself into the water, and then cleaned.

Unfortunately for Stormer, he wasn't ready for this, and as such was rather easily knocked over, sputtering noises of surprise and nearly pushing Macku off, but deciding to just let her do what she was doing and hope she didn't get water into any of the cracks in his armor. "I said you were fine, Macku. Nothing got on you, and we're both safe."

"Now we know for sure!" Macku gave the mech a shake, or tried to as he was now back to having his strength and guard up. "It's bad enough getting an Infected Kanohi put on you- but the slower corruption from infection?" She keened in a whine, "I've seen what that's done to friends back on the island of Mata Nui- it's the most horrible thing in the worlds!"

"Okay, okay, just relax and stop shaking me before you-" his voice cut out as he gave a sudden and violent shudder, his optics losing their light as he went limp for all of ten or so seconds. Afterwards, he turned on again, optics lighting up as he finished what he was saying, not seeming aware that he'd powered down briefly. "-make me shut down." He then seemed to wince. "... Ouch... what happened?"

"I don't know." Macku was staring at him, confused. A roar had her looking up, squeaking and then running inside the Suva as the mutated creature had gotten a little closer, dragging the two full sized Toa a few paces.

The larger Toa with the crest drew back, his crest- the Kanohi- glowing brightly in the dark as Hewkii slammed his head against the Rahi's horned one. There was a ripple of power that was felt even to the mech, and his personal scanners would pick up the localized, increasing gravity in that spot.

Stormer took a moment to recover fully before he was able to get up and move, taking cover in the Suva as well, weapon out and ready, though after a second he looked at it, sighed, and put it away again. "I really need that repaired..." He muttered before looking back out at the fight, his programming telling him to do something, but his common sense telling him he really wouldn't be able to do much.

That was when he picked up on the shift of gravity. "What is going on out there?"

The green being leapt into the gravity field, even the air was wavering visibly in the dark, reflecting what light there was. But he was also moving where the creature couldn't, digging sizable claws into the infected Kanohi. He paused, and then muscles _flexed_ and he pulled, then _twisted_, bright-white light visible under his hands as the corrupted thing was pulled slowly off the rahi.

Once it was free, the Toa of Air stood, snarling as he flexed again, charging his energies to purify, then snap the mask into pieces. Perched on the creature, the slender green giant planted one foot between the two sets of horns and roared, loud and deep and a throw back to his ancestors. It was a challenge and a victory call as the other crested being roared in a deeper tone, the warning echoing across the night time wet lands.

Needless to say, the veteran had no idea what the roaring was about, but decided not to question it. Instead, he seemed to relax a little with relief before sparks shot out of a few of the armor cracks he had. Wincing, he shifted back and sat against the wall, expression grim as he looked at Macku. "Well... they beat it. That's always good news."

"But the poor thing is still mutated," Macku said, peeking out of a window, even after nearly being eaten and the scare of infection, Matoran concern and a healer's instinct still showed through.

"And is there anything-" His voice fizzled a bit. "do about it?" He paused before frowning at himself a little, but didn't comment on it, just turning his gaze back to Macku afterwards.

She was staring at him with wide eyes, both sets of lids open. "That is for Hewkii and Lewa to deal with." She grasped Stormer's hand and started to tug him back into the Suva, "We need to get you to Ga-Koro."

The veteran's optics almost seemed to blink as the lights flickered slightly. Even with that though, he got up and moved with her. "Is some... wrong?" He asked, frowning again when his voice fizzled a bit. He knew it had to do with water inside his armor now, but he didn't want to let it seem like a big deal. So far he hadn't done anything too big, as far as he was aware. It just twinged a bit. "How are we going to get there from here? How far is it?"

"Just a setting away," Macku said, pulling and then placing the mech in the middle of the largest, center chamber. She darted off to one of the seven larger pillars supporting the roof. Unlike other Suva temples, this one was new, and barer. The Matoran was setting it to the village nearest, and looked back. "We can only go one at a time, when I say, jump up, then on the other side curl up if you can."

Stormer nodded slightly as his AI noodled it through. "Alright. Care to explain how that works first?" He looked around himself to try and figure out what exactly was about to happen. It wasn't hard to see he hadn't ever teleported before.

Than a blue ball neatly rolled over beside the mech. It uncurled into Macku who sat up and looked around at the startled Matoran, she chirped, and then vocally took off. Speaking too fast for the translator to keep up... or, given the slower rate of some, the translator just died for the mech.

Stormer, naturally, just stood there, seeming utterly confused at what she was saying. "... Macku, yo.u .n't .ng ..." He murmured as he glanced at her, not sure if she'd understand him or not. He knew he certainly didn't have the faintest idea what she was saying.

"Reou ta laki." The Ga-Matoran came back over, touching the mech's head and had a soothing tone. Than time seemed to jump, as the next thing going on was Stormer was moving on a stretcher and being taken into a lit place that smelled like a mechanic's shop, only a little different.

The most the veteran really had time to do was raise an eye ridge before everything around him changed. "... jus.t .ed?" He asked, looking around with obvious confusion, though he didn't try to get up; he had a feeling this wasn't really a smart time to move a great deal.

A much larger form of a Bionicle Matoran male was leaning over the mech, chirping a question back to him. He could just see Macku with another blue Ga-Matoran, both were fussing with what looked like metal as the male was in the middle of fixing Stormer's left arm.

Stormer just looked curiously up at him, not really knowing what was said or quite what was going on. "... ?" He crackled before wincing slightly as someone bumped a fraying wire.

The Matoran male was speaking, as if explaining what he was doing to the mech. Reaching over as he deftly sliced then replaced the damaged wires and spliced them back in so he could flex his hand and fingers.

The bot was about to try and ask what had been said again, but before he got a chance he gave a sharp and brief yell as the wires were cut and replaced, his whole body giving a shudder as his sensors went nuts, telling him that very much bad was happening and he needed to make it stop. Luckily though, Stormer wasn't about to react, and just held still, giving out a fizzy sighing noise as he tried to not over-work his energy output. The last thing he needed was to accidentally give off a core discharge and jolt the Matoran that were working on him.

The black bio-mechanical being paused, resting a hand on the mech's chest and hummed, not bothering with words but tone instead. Then took a far more careful look, searching for something in the shoulder joint, he crooned and then pressed what looked like a small stone against the nerve lines, and the arm went numb.

Stormer hadn't needed a whole lot of reassurance, but even still he found the thought to be comforting, and twitched a small smile before his arm lost all sense of... well, everything seemingly. He turned his head to try and see what the black Matoran had done, though at the angle he was on presently, he didn't really have a good view.

As for the black Matoran himself, he would've felt several vibrations when he'd put his hand on the bot's chest, as well as an odd, almost pulsating feeling. It was warm, in a way, and definitely some form of energy, though just what it was couldn't be made out. One thing was certain though; it was definitely foreign.

It also let the Matoran go back to repairing the damaged wires, and hydraulics in Stormer's arm, this time without the pain. That didn't mean his current mechanic was taking his time but moving in those swift sure motions, being fast but also careful. When the crystal was removed the mech's feeling would come slowly into the limb, not rushing back.

The whole time this happened, the veteran Hero just watched in silence, his expression showing faint curiosity and intrigue, particularly at the crystal. He nearly asked what it was, but remembered that his translator was utterly destroyed, and opted against it before he made a sound. Another thing that crossed his mind while he was being worked on, was the condition of the rest of his team. He didn't have a clue where they had landed, and as it was he was getting to be a bit worried. More so than usual, at least. He may not have shown it to his crew, but he did get concerned from time to time.

Macku's voice was herd, and then time skipped for the mech again. The Ga-Matoran peering down at him from being perched on a spot above the bed. She looked worried, and also having been there for a while.

Noticing the blue lights coming back up she perked up, "Stormer?" she asked, touching his helm, then shoulder, "Are you back again?" Macku slide off the table and beside the mech's bed. Looking over his frame before help him sit up, "your balance might be off, but we repaired you as best we could, and this time you're water proof with the new armor."

At first, the mech wasn't fully sure what he'd missed or what happened, and as such he took a few moments to let his optics focus on Macku's face as well as let himself register what she said. "...Yes, I'm here... what do you mean, am I back again?"

As she helped him sit up, he already noticed a few changes, and loked himself over to see what all was different. "Thank you, by the way." He then realized something else. "... you fixed the translator as well?" He asked curiously, trying to figure out how he could understand her so clearly at the present when he'd known for certain his device had been busted.

"No, we couldn't so we gave you a translation stone." The girl said, pointing at his middle. "Seems to be working."

"A... translation stone?" Stormer inquired, his expression showing confusion. "I'm not quite sure I follow your meaning."

"It's not really a stone, but made from the same Kanoka disks that make a Kanohi rue." Macku tried to explain to the off worlder, paused and thought. "It...Just translates mentally for us, and apparently does the same for you."

"... You lost me again, but I'll agree and let it be for now." The veteran responded, thinking it over a little before shaking his head. "I am curious where you put it though... and how I missed the entire repairing process... have I been shutting down?"

Macku considered it, "I'm not sure about shutting down, but you were...pausing? And forgetting a lot until Onura cleaned all the water out and replaced what was broken. We had to use protodermis to replace the armor that was broken, so that's what the blue is on you. Onura couldn't tell what your armor is made of."

"You said something I didn't understand earlier, before I was repaired." He clarified. "And the next thing I knew, I was lying down being repaired... then you said something else, and now here we are... either way, I'm very grateful for the help." He then paused and looked at himself again. He wasn't used to seeing blue on himself; usually he saw it on Surge. That was when a different thought came to him. "You... your friend didn't tamper with any glowing stones already inside me, did he?" Going by his tone, it was obvious this was important.

"It's too much like a heart light," Macku shook her head, "And you said before that that was what made you alive, so of course Onura wouldn't tamper with it, other than the added chest and dorsal plates." She motioned to his broad chest plate, were a mock up of a heart light was, "that was my idea...just in case. Agori aren't as open minded as Bionicle. I can sense the living energy, but I'm not sure one of them can. And I think that was from when you...paused."

"Ah..." His whole frame seemed to relax again before he paused and reached up with one hand to feel his head and face, trying to figure out if that had changed as well. "Thank you for not tampering with it, and providing a safeguard. I'd rather not be torn apart because someone got curious about my Core."

The Ga-Matoran smiled before stepping back, "would you like to get up?"

The veteran smiled again, faint as it was, and he nodded before shifting and sliding off the bed. The balance was a bit off, he noticed, and he took a little while just to get used to standing with it the way it was, but he gave a small nod of approval all the same. "Definitely feels better."

"Onura tried to keep things even he said," Macku was watching him with a healer's eye, but let the mech soft out his balance.

"He did a good job." Stormer remarked, getting himself balanced out fairly quickly, for the most part at the very least. "It's a bit unusual, but it should be fairly easy to get used to." He shifted a bit and did a bit of pacing to further get himself used to it. "... There we go." He added after a moment of testing. "I think I've got it."

Noting that the mech reclaimed his balance as fast as a Toa, the Matoran was impressed to say the least. Fallowing after the mech, "that's good. It's still dark out but if you'd like you can come out into the Koro."

The mech thought it over a bit before giving a faint shrug. "Whichever you prefer, to be honest. I should probably get a look around so I can get a feel for the area. No sense in getting lost if I can avoid it."

"It's still dark." Macku warned, moving to the door, "Not all of the village is sleeping, but we stay quiet at night. More habit than anything."

Stormer gave a small nod as he followed her. "Sounds logical to me." He responded, referring both the darkness and staying quiet. "... did those two bigger beings ever come back?"

"I'm not sure where Lewa is, but Hewkii is resting in the Kini Nui, he just ate. Would you like to properly meet him?" Macku offered as she paused on a dock between the stable ground the cabin like place was in, over a deeper water way to a network of interconnected docks and floating docks.

"I wouldn't mind it." Stormer responded after a moment or two of thought. "Though if he's resting I should probably leave him be." He knew how testy people could get if they were disturbed during their down time, but All the same, he did want to actually meet Hewkii, as well as thank him for his help. After all, the mech knew he and Macku probably wouldn't have stood a chance if things had kept going the way they were during the fight.

* * *

Reviews!

**Species Unknown**

Omie- Lewa, as seen in the story, Kongu will be coming in later sometime. Not sure when just yet but he will be.


End file.
